Olena Kleimenova has volunteered at Blythe House’s Whaley Bridge department store since summer 2022, after moving to the UK with her 11-year-old son from the horror of war in her home country, Ukraine.
Sadly when they first arrived in the UK, Olena and Bogdan had to say a very hard goodbye to husband and dad, Sergey, and 19-year-old son and brother, Eduard, who were still at home in Kyiv.
Olena explained: ‘It is very hard to be away from my husband and my son. We miss them lots. Sergey has a bad knee injury and has passed by the army medical team as unfit to serve. Because of this, I hope he will be able to join us here in England soon. Eduard sadly needs to stay in Ukraine as he is 19-years-old and could be called up to serve in the army. He is studying at the Kiev Linguistic University as an interpreter for English and French.’
In December 2022, just in time for Christmas, Sergey joined Olena and Bogdan here in the High Peak.
Olena, who worked as a corporate lawyer for a food production company, has been learning English since arriving in July, by undertaking classes with the Zink Project in Buxton; Fairfield Adult Community Education Centre; and Whaley Bridge Uniting Church.
Bodgan attended school in Furness Vale but now goes to secondary school in New Mills where he is enjoying playing football as part of the under-12s team, and having lessons in English, with support from a teacher who can speak Russian.
Olena and Bogdan are residing in Buxworth, in a holiday let owned by former teacher, Marion Hayes.
Marion explained: ‘I expressed an interest in supporting Ukrainian refugees back in January 2022 when the opportunity first arose. I met a friend of Olena’s who was living in Furness Vale; Bogdan and her son are very good friends and she suggested I could support Olena and her family. As I was a sponsor, I had to apply for Olena and Bogdan’s visa. We were expecting it to take weeks, but it actually only took three days, and Olena and Bogdan arrived with us on the 6th July.
‘I was speaking to my friend Stephanie who is a volunteer at the Whaley Bridge shop, about potential opportunities for Olena to develop her English language skills and to gain more confidence. Stephanie suggested we chat to Anne, the shop manager, and we arranged for Olena to start volunteering at the shop.’
Olena continued: ‘I volunteer at the shop for three hours per week every Thursday. I have helped with steaming and pricing clothes, hanging photos, cleaning, and being a cash operator on the till.
‘I enjoy learning about the history of the people there. They are very helpful. It is a very positive and comforting experience, and it is helping me to learn English. It is good to get out of the house and I am happy that my work is helping people. I hope to be able to develop my English skills and become a lawyer here in England; that is my dream.’
